If You Promise
by Poetic-Introvert
Summary: Klaus made a promise, so why can't he keep it? How 6x15, "Let Her Go", should have gone. Klaroline. Spoilers. Now a two-shot.
1. If You Promise

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Vampire Diaries in any way, shape, or form.**

* * *

"We're going to do a week of preparation work in less than one day. I want my mother buried today, and for it to be over with as soon as possible."

Caroline Forbes looked down at her less-elegant-than-usual handwriting. She had been shaking when she wrote those simple words down at three in the morning instead of sleeping like the rest of her friends. The funeral hadn't even occurred yet, and all ready Caroline Forbes' dreams were nightmares. She had no longer wished more than now that those stupid legends about vampires not sleeping at all were true, because now, as she looked down at the yellow journal paper through hazy, tired eyes, none of the words seemed simple at all.

"Whatever you need, Care. We're here for you." In Caroline's eyes, Matt Donovan had always been a remarkable friend. Even after their failed attempt at dating, she knew he would always be there for her. Just like someone else.

But she couldn't bother to think of that today. She had a lot on her mind; more so than usual.

"Matt's right, Caroline. Just point us in the direction of what you need, and it'll be done." Caroline let her eyes flick up to Tyler Lockwood's. Unbeknownst to him, Liz had always warned Caroline to stay away from him. She had said that he was trouble.

If trouble was what her mom was worried about, Caroline couldn't bear to think about what her mother would have thought of _him _as her significant other. Compared to him, Tyler was well-off enough to be considered husband material.

She shook her head slightly in an attempt to rid her mind of these reoccurring thoughts.

As she barked out orders to her friends, she immediately knew that her attempt to clear her mind was a failed one.

* * *

"No, no, no! I doubt my mom would want to be stuck in some gaudy, silver box the rest of her. . .being! Even if she did, I would not let that happen because it would clash with her uniform!"

Elena Gilbert watched on in sympathy as her best friend paced back and forth in the open-floor plan of the casket shop.

"God, I should have asked her!" She had stopped pacing, and now had her hands balled up into fists at her sides. "That would've been so horrible of me to do, though. Don't you think? I mean, we all knew she was dying, but I doubt it would help if I sealed her fate asking what color of a freaking casket she wanted to rot away in-"

Elena softly clamped her hands down on Caroline's shoulders.

"Caroline, I promise I have everything covered in here. Please, just go outside, and take a few deep breaths."

Without a word, Caroline obeyed and now found herself sitting on the wooden bench outside of the shop. She tapped her fingers on the wooden bench, and for a moment, the action seemed so familiar. Fate seemed to have a bone to pick with her, because she found herself remembering back to a time before she even thought about associating the words _dead _and _mom_ in the same sentence.

_"So, how am I doing?"_

_She looked up into the hopeful eyes of Niklaus Mikaelson as he brought his face close to hers._

_"You're. . ." She trailed off as she took in his immaculate suit and tie that he somehow had managed to coordinate with her gold, mid-thigh dress. "Perfect."_

_"Well, I doubt the host of this ceremony would expect anything less than perfection. I've heard through the grape vine that she's a hard one to please."_

_Caroline could feel herself losing the battle to keep from smiling as she took in her date's smirk._

_Before she could respond to his notion, she is knocked so hard in her shoulder that Klaus has to grab onto her to keep her from toppling over in her dainty heels._

_"What the-"_

_"Oh, sorry, Barbie. Didn't see you standing there." Caroline immediately glared at her best friend Elena Gilbert as she steadied herself using Klaus' chest. Elena, of course, didn't even flinch. Her emotions had been turned off now for quite a while._

_"You liar! You wanted me to fall in the grass and ruin my dress!"_

_Caroline failed to notice the crowd her and Elena were now attracting._

_"What if I did? I wanted to be back at the boarding house downing vodka shots, but apparently there's always something stopping me from getting what I want. Isn't that right, Stefan?"_

_Stefan Salvatore flexed his jaw as he ignored Elena's jab at him. It certainly wouldn't be the last._

_"Well, anyway, I'm feeling a little thirsty, and Miss Mystic Falls is looking pretty appetizing-"_

_"You better not, Elena! Or so help me-"_

_"Caroline, love, you're bringing in an audience." Klaus had put his hand on Caroline's shoulder in an attempt to diffuse the situation._

_Caroline looked around and realized that she was now the center of attention. Without thinking, she had taken Klaus' hand in hers and led him all the way into the other side of the yard._

_They plopped down on the wooden bench together, and Klaus almost gave a sad sigh at the loss of her hand when she released his from her death grip._

_"I'm sorry. I hate how crazy Elena makes me. It's just, even when she was a normal vampire she was a handful, and now that she's a vampire with her humanity turned off. . ." Caroline trailed off as she was at a loss for words._

_"Being a vampire simply amplifies what we are, Caroline. Turning off our humanity just simply adds to the mix." Klaus smirked as he looked into Caroline's eyes._

_"Well, I don't remember ever being this erratic and controlling before I was turned." Caroline smiled as she tapped her fingers against the bench._

_"Caroline, you are anything but erratic and controlling." Caroline raised an eyebrow at him and he let a small laugh escape. "All right. Maybe a little, but you know what?"_

_Caroline met Klaus' stare as he lightly took her hand into his._

_"You're beautiful, strong, full of light." Klaus took in Caroline's bashful smile but continued anyway. "And I enjoy you."_

Caroline suddenly felt sick to her stomach. She had no idea why she had done it; why she had made him promise to stay away. She'd been a fool, and now she knew it was too late to take it back.

"Caroline? Everything's done. Are you ready to go?"

Caroline shook her head as she tapped her fingers on the wooden bench once more before standing up. She breathed out what she thought was a calming breath, but she swore she had felt more stress enter her body than there was before.

* * *

Elena's hand enveloped Caroline's as they sat in the first pew of the church. Luckily, Caroline had instructed the workers at the funeral home to promptly close the casket as soon as everyone was seated and the service had started.

That didn't make it hurt any less, though.

Caroline took in the classically black casket. It had a less-gaudy silver lining that accentuated her mom's uniform perfectly. Her thoughts drifted back to before the service when she straightened her mom's tie. She had said her final goodbyes at that moment, and had she been human, the pain she was feeling now could have killed her on site.

As Caroline rose to sing a parting song to her mother, she stood beside the casket and looked down. The small opening of the door made her look up and toward the back of the church. She felt tears spill from her eyes as she took in his sad countenance as he looked at her after so long away.

Klaus could feel his heart shatter in his chest as he took in the broken look on Caroline's face. He had agreed to stay away, so what was he doing here?

He knew the simple answer to that question. She was, _is_, the love of his life.

Caroline finished her song quickly as she made herself avert her eyes from the spot on the corner of the last pew. She didn't want to look up to see what, or rather who, was awaiting her there.

Fortunately for Caroline, the rest of her mother's service went by like a band-aid. Ripped off quickly, with the wound left to fester later.

Liz's casket remained closed just as Caroline had wished as she smoothed the flag down that had been placed over its surface minutes ago. She thanked everyone personally as a way to stall herself from the last pew.

Finally, as the last person gave her their condolences, she let her eyes slowly lift to the pew that taunted her.

Her knees practically buckled beneath her as she took in the empty space. She no longer felt Matt grab onto her waist to hold her up. She no longer heard him asking if she was all right.

She was focused on whether she really was overcome with grief; if who she had seen was just a step into the healing process. It had almost felt like a dream that didn't survive the clarity of day.

If it was real, which she knew it was, he was long gone, and she wasn't too far behind him.


	2. If You Promise II

**A/N: Not sure what made me write this, but it just seemed to flow out onto the screen. I guess I'm missing Klaroline a lot lately. May or may not be the last piece to this. Stay tuned!**

**_Disclaimer: I do not own the Vampire Diaries in any way, shape, or form._**

* * *

"I know you're here."

He stood on the edge of the porch of Caroline's house. She could make him out in the shadows, but she was still afraid he was nothing but a figment of her imagination. She felt like she was out in the open waiting to be preyed upon.

She also felt vulnerable, but she couldn't find it in herself to really _feel _anything these days.

"I saw you at the funeral."

"Did you, love?"

His voice was more familiar than she'd wanted it to be. It made her feel like…like she was finally home.

"Yes. I also saw you in Georgia, and in New York."

"You didn't think I'd let you wander around the United States with your emotions turned off, did you? Your idiot friends may have given up on you years ago, but I refuse to do so. You're still Caroline."

"Caroline's dead. At least the one you knew."

"Really? Because I don't think she is. I think she's there just beyond the surface; waiting to get out. Why else would she return to her childhood home ten years after she left it?"

"I just wanted to see what naïve person bought the property. I hear Mystic Falls isn't the safest place anymore. I was hoping they'd be dead, but I tried going in, and I can't."

"You really want to know who lives here now, Caroline?"

The sound of her name leaving his lips made her feel something foreign, but as she looked into the dark interior of the house, something in her hardened.

"No. It doesn't matter."

"It doesn't matter? So, what does then?"

Caroline stared at the man just out of the light's reach. After a long, defying silence, she gave in.

"Nothing."

"Oh, nothing matters?"

Caroline watched as the man finally stepped into the flood of light. She blinked and looked down as the burning blue eyes of Niklaus Mikaelson searched her face. She immediately felt a hand under her chin as Klaus forcefully tilted her face up to look at him.

"So, I don't matter then, love? You want to look me in the eye and tell me you don't feel anything for me? While you were out gallivanting about with your emotions off, who do you think was the one who saw to the upkeep of your mother's grave? Made sure the pink roses in front of her tombstone were replaced every three days? You thought it was your little friends trying to keep you happy? I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but they have moved on to bigger and better things than trying to reel in poor, little Caroline that decided to turn her emotions off instead of facing what life had to throw at her!"

Caroline furiously swatted Klaus's hand away from her face, but he immediately brought it back up.

"You want to tell me that the fact you have no one in this world except me doesn't matter, Caroline? That the fact that I abandoned my own life to keep you from being killed for your own recklessness…that _does not matter_?"

Caroline immediately shoved Klaus's hand off of her face, and locked her hand around his wrist.

"That's exactly what I'm telling you. You following me around like some love sick puppy doesn't matter. My friends abandoning me doesn't matter. Nothing does. The fact at hand is that I don't feel anything, and that's all that matters to me."

Before Klaus could register what was about to happen, Caroline snapped his wrist, then flung it down to his side. Instead of making a sound, he quietly used his other hand to support his now broken wrist as he stared into Caroline's dead eyes. She immediately turned to leave; not knowing where she would even go.

"It's not your fault, Caroline. She was already too far gone."

In a blur of skin and clothes, Caroline was in Klaus's face.

"That's none of your business! You weren't the one who practically stayed up for a week straight researching different mutations of cancer cells. You didn't have to Google every other word in the sentence when you realized you had no idea what you had just read. I was the one who looked high and low for doctors that could possibly know more about my mom's health. It was me. _Me_!"

The way Klaus's face hardened surprised Caroline. His next words dripped venom

"So, you really think it was all you, love? That you were the only one involved?"

Caroline's face subtly softened as she took a step back from Klaus.

"What are you talking about?" Her voice was almost a whisper.

* * *

_"I can't thank you enough, Klaus. All Caroline and I have are each other. Losing her would be losing myself."_

_Klaus followed closely behind Liz as she walked toward the door, and opened it for his departure._

_"So, I take it she doesn't know." His words were more of a statement rather than a question, and the Sheriff's body automatically went rigid at the sound of them. She quickly turned to face him._

_"I don't know what you're talking about. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to check on Caroline, and then head to bed myself."_

_"It's too late. The doctors are stumped, and you've given up. They want to try different methods of treatment, but you don't think it'll do any good."_

_Klaus watched as Liz's face dropped, and her eyes began to moisten._

_"I'm right, aren't I?"_

_"How did you know?" Liz's voice sounds small, even to her own ears. Without a word, Klaus took her softly by her wrist, and lead her back into the living room. He motioned for her to sit down, and he promptly followed. _

_"There are certain perks to not only being an Original, but also to being a hybrid. I can smell the change in your blood, Sheriff Forbes. The others soon will, too."_

_Klaus watched as the tears began to roll down the Sheriff's cheeks._

_"Why did this have to happen to me? To Caroline? My perfect, little Caroline? She deserves nothing but the best in life, and her mom dying is far from that. I won't get to see her graduate, or to see her off on her way to college…I won't get to watch her walk down the aisle at her wedding…Oh, God." Without thinking, Klaus pulled Liz into a hug as her shoulders began to shake from her quiet sobs. He could still hear her mumbling into his shoulder. "When I'm gone, she won't have anyone. Not me, not her father…"_

_"She'll have me." Klaus's voice was clear and confident. "And she'll have you for a little while longer, Liz. I know a witch or two who'd be willing to prolong the inevitable as a favor for me. It'll only buy you about two years, but by that time, Caroline will be in college. So, if you're okay with seeing two events out of three, would you mind me helping out?"_

_Liz immediately pulled away from Klaus and looked him the eyes._

_"Why are you doing this? What's in it for you?"_

_"Nothing at all. Liz, I'm the bad guy. This is something we both know, but Caroline…Caroline is one of those Once in a Lifetime type of people. I believe whole-heartedly that she is the one I've been unconsciously searching for during my entire existence. She is everything I'm not, and as you said, she deserves nothing but the best in life. I promise to give that to her; starting with giving her a few more years with you." Klaus immediately cleared his throat as his voice began to break. "And once you're gone, I promise to continue loving her and caring for her; until I take my last breath. She is my life now."_

_Liz let her eyes search through Klaus's. She saw nothing but a genuine glow._

_"Do you promise?"_

_"You have my word."_

* * *

"You're a liar. My mom wasn't sick back then."

"Are you sure about that, love?"

Memories immediately flashed into Caroline's mind. She thought of the times she had caught her mother lightly holding the side of her head after bending down to check on the food she was cooking in the oven. She remembered how tired her mom would look after coming home from work, and how as time went on, she seemed to grow even more tired; no matter how much she slept. Caroline's mind finally drifted to a day she came home from school, and noticed her mom's eyes were brighter and more alive than ever. It was almost like…

"Magic. You used magic to heal her?"

The curiosity in her voice made Klaus hopeful. It was the first sign of Caroline he'd seen in a while. He had to be careful now.

"Not quite. Two witches from Europe owed me a favor. Their combined power acted as a prolonging shield. She had always had the cancer, it was just beating against the shield. And like all things, as time went on, the shield began to experience wear and tear, and then finally, it gave out. I'm so sorry, Caroline. It wasn't my business to tell you. When I left I…"

Klaus felt his throat tighten.

"When I left, and I made that promise to you that you would never see me again, I knew that I couldn't keep it. I knew that one day, you would need me; regardless of whether you thought you would or not. I also knew that no matter what, I had to keep my promise to your mother."

Caroline looked away as she felt…something. She wasn't supposed to be feeling anything. She quickly found herself leaning against the wooden railing of her old porch as a way to support herself.

"Caroline, you are my life now, and I will follow you to the ends of the earth if it means keeping my promise." Klaus slowly walked over to Caroline, and took one of her hands into his; wincing as his wrist still throbbed. "I love you more than I love myself. I will be here for you until I take my last breath."

Klaus watched as tears began to trail down Caroline's cheeks. Her shoulders began to tremble, and he immediately took her into a hug. It wasn't until now that he realized how much he had missed his Caroline.

"Do you promise, Klaus? Do you promise to never leave me until your last breath?"

"I promise, love. And even then, I won't leave."

"Why don't we test that theory?"

Before he could comprehend what she meant, the loud cracking sound of wood, and an immediate sharp pain invaded Klaus's senses. The wood couldn't kill him, but it was enough to make him hold his breath.

"Next time, it'll be white oak." Caroline's clear, perky voice lingered in the night air as Klaus lost sight of her once again.

"That's what you said last time, love!" Klaus's voice echoed into the now-empty night air. "I'll catch up to you again. I always do. I'm bringing you back, Caroline."

Klaus let himself look into the dark windows of the house one last time.

"_I promise_."


End file.
